Detectives said Martinez was the gunman who killed Juan Carlos Pedraza, 47, on March 18, 2014 in East Salinas.

Pedraza was not a gang member and did not have a criminal history, police said.

Pedraza was shot multiple times and died on a sidewalk outside his house near the intersection of Towt Street and Del Monte Avenue. Several residents witnessed Pedraza's death because it was 7:10 p.m., and residents were returning home from work.

Officer Jim Arensdorf said the gunman was "bold" and had zero regard for his surroundings, including the fact that there were numerous kids playing a few yards away. Police covered his body with a tarp so that curious children watching the investigation unfold could not see the grisly crime scene.

Pedraza's death was Salinas' third homicide of 2014.

Martinez was arrested days later by a SWAT team on Kennedy Street.

Thornburg said the Monterey County Jail made the same mistake once in the past, when the wrong inmate was freed because of a paperwork error. He declined to say what caused the Martinez mistake.

The Sheriff's Office notified U.S. border agents on the U.S.-Mexico border to be on the lookout for the suspected killer.

While police searched for any sign of Martinez on Friday, a shooting happened outside a Salinas church during a funeral service at 2 p.m., witnesses said. Someone fired a gun into the air outside Northminster Presbyterian Church at 315 East Alvin Drive and no one was injured.

Police said an argument between family members broke out as they were leaving the funeral.